Sanofi digs deep to buy US haemophilia group Bioverativ for US$11.6bil

PARIS: French healthcare group Sanofi has agreed to buy US haemophilia specialist Bioverativ for US$11.6bil, its biggest deal for seven years, which it said would strengthen its presence in treatments for rare diseases.

Sanofi shares fell 3.4% by 0920 GMT, making the stock the worst performer on France’s benchmark CAC-40 index and several analysts deemed the deal expensive.

The move comes at a time of renewed interest by large drugmakers in smaller biotech firms and predictions by some experts that 2018 will see a substantial pick-up in mergers and acquisitions.

Sanofi has agreed to buy all of the outstanding shares of Bioverativ for US$105 per share in cash, marking a premium of 64% to Bioverativ’s closing price on January 19.

Bioverativ, a maker of haemophilia drugs, was separated from Biogen Inc early last year.

The agreed transaction marks Sanofi’s successful return to deal-making after its failure to land major takeovers in recent years.

It is its biggest acquisition since the 2011 takeover of US biotech company Genzyme for around US$20bil.

Sanofi lost out on buying California-based cancer specialist Medivation to Pfizer in 2016, and also missed acquiring Swiss biotech company Actelion, which was bought by Johnson & Johnson last year.

“With Bioverativ, we welcome a leader in the growing haemophilia market,” Sanofi chief executive Olivier Brandicourt said.

The market dealing with treatments for haemophilia is an important one that is evolving rapidly as new drugs change the landscape. — Reuters